For existing weeds you could use glyphosate AS LONG AS the Bermuda is COMPLETELY dormant (no green showing at all.) If it is not dormant, you'll need to dig the weeds or use a broadleaved weed killer made for Bermuda. Beyond that you'll need pre-emergents in order to prevent crabgrass and other sprouting annuals. You'll need Weed n' Feed for .SOUTHERN lawn grasses, such as from Scott's or Greenview, etc.

I share your pain. I'm in zone 7a and have had a very difficult time with Bermuda and weeds. What zone are you in? For environmental reasons, I didn't use fertilizer or weed preventer/killer. Unfortunately due to increasing amounts of tree coverage/shade, the weeds have won after 15 years of hand-to-hand combat! I'll be interested to see what suggestions you receive.

I am in zone 8a. Just new to this and I am not familiar with what products to even purchase. Or where/when to start.

"No fertilizer," "no weed preventer/killer," "Increasing amounts of shade" ... all spell decimation and death for a Bermuda lawn.

One fact about herbicides that many inexperienced people do not seem to realize is, that when a weed problem is active and substantial, it takes more chemicals to combat it. As the weeds come under control and eradication, it takes much less chemicals to maintain the turf (or grounds.) If one was to first get weeds eradicated and/or under control, it might be possible to maintain them from that point on with mostly manual, mechanical means.

So if I were to get started right now. . . How would I:

Kill the weeds that exist, fertilize, and prevent this from happening again?

. . . Knowing that my sod is so young and has not had a chance to grow.

Daniel, I answered your second set of questions in my first answer.

I did not realize Yardvaark was a weed n feed kind of guy. Most of us here don't like it because it can be very hard to apply properly, and if you don't, it won't kill any weeds. For simplicity sake, we usually recommend using fertilizer for fertilizing and herbicide for killing weeds. Separate products applied at different times of year.

You need to start mowing, now. Set your mower for the lowest setting or one notch higher. This might scalp a lot of bermuda, but it's part of the process to making it look good. Mowing low will also chop off all the weeds you have. Once the grass is fully awake in the spring, it will have plenty of stamina and will grow so fast you will have to mow 2, 3, or 4 times per week to keep it short without it getting out of hand. Bermuda will get a scalped look if you have uneven soil. That's fine. It will green up very quickly. Those brown stems you see after scalping will send out horizontal blades of grass instead of vertical. This is a feature of bermuda in that it adapts positively to mowing low. That keeps the grass soft and dense. Mowing it too high causes the turf to thin out.

Would you categorize the weeds as grassy weeds or broadleaf weeds like dandelion, clover, etc? Grassy weeds are hard to kill in grass. Broadleaf weeds are generally easier to kill with a spray like Weed b Gon or Weed b Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer. Liquid herbicides are good because you can spot spray only the weeds and not waste a lot of product over non-weedy turf. One thing to remember is liquid herbicides are a leaf mist, not a soil drench. Spray fast and keep moving. Read the labels about what they say for use on bermuda.

As for fertilizer, bermuda can take all the high nitrogen you can give it, ONCE IT AWAKENS. Don't fertilize bermuda until after the second or third time you have mowed real bermuda (not just weeds). Waiting ensures the grass roots are awake and are taking up nutrients. After that, you can fertilize bermuda monthly without harm. In the summer you can back off if you want, but bermuda is tough stuff, and can take it.

Watering is the most important part of lawn care. If you are getting rain this spring, you likely will not have to water much at all for a month or two. When you do start watering, water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means one inch all at one time. Infrequently means monthly for now (which the rain provides) moving toward once per week in July and August. It is the deep watering that will pull the grass through the drying heat.

Janie Kaplan: If you have a lot of shade, you may as well start planning the funeral for your lawn and look into a transition plan to another type of grass. If you want help, please start a new topic, as this one will have no value for you at all. In the new topic, please tell us where you live.

Too late to spray Roundup and it only kills winter weeds anyway. Spray herbicide that contains 2-4-D to kill most of the weeds. Tough undesirable grass and weeds will need other herbicides. Baihagrass can be controlled by Target 6 herbicide will control crabgrass and dallisgrass. Also use Metsulfuron-methyl + chlorsulfuron. A golf course like lawn can be obtained with proper application each year. Apply high nitrogen fertilizers. You're playing catch up so expect some temporary yellowing (chlorosis) from most herbicide application. Read labels and instructions. They are powerful chemicals.